Recording medium and image-forming method employing the same

Abstract

Provided is a recording medium comprising an ink-receiving layer provided on at least one face of a base material, wherein a surface of the ink-receiving has the maximum specular glossiness within a measurement angle range of from 20° to 60°.

What is claimed is:  
     
       1. A recording medium comprising a base material having a metal film thereon and having a surface with an embossed pattern which causes interference with reflected light on a printing face of the medium, a transparent ink-intercepting layer provided on the metal film of the base material and a transparent ink-receiving layer provided on the ink-intercepting layer, 
       wherein the ink-intercepting layer is one or more films selected from polyolefin films and polyester films, and  
       wherein the ink-receiving layer comprises a water-soluble resin or a water-dispersible resin, and a surface of the ink-receiving layer has a maximum specular glossiness within a measurement angle range of from 20° to 60° and the maximum value of the specular glossiness is not less than 100%.  
     
     
       2. The recording medium according to claim  1 , wherein the specular glossiness exceeds 100% within a measurement angle range of from 20° to 75°. 
     
     
       3. The recording medium according to claim  1 , wherein the metal film is a vapor-deposited metal layer. 
     
     
       4. The recording medium according to claim  3 , wherein at least one of the ink-intercepting layer and the ink-receiving layer is colored. 
     
     
       5. The recording medium according to claim  1 , wherein at least one of the metal film, the ink-intercepting layer, and the ink-receiving layer is colored. 
     
     
       6. The recording medium according to claim  1 , wherein the metal film is selected from gold foil, silver foil, copper foil, and aluminum foil. 
     
     
       7. The recording medium according to claim  1 , wherein a metal corrosion preventing film is provided on the face of the ink-receiving layer reverse to the recording face. 
     
     
       8. The recording medium according to claim  1 , wherein the recording medium has a total thickness of not larger than 500 μm. 
     
     
       9. An image-forming method, comprising the step of forming an image with an ink and an ink-jet recording apparatus on the recording medium set forth in claim  1 . 
     
     
       10. The image-forming method according to claim  9 , wherein the ink comprises water and a water-soluble organic solvent. 
     
     
       11. The image-forming method according to claim  9 , wherein the ink comprises a cyan ink, a magenta ink, a yellow ink, and a black ink. 
     
     
       12. The image-forming method according to claim  11 , wherein the black ink has a higher surface tension than the cyan, magenta, and yellow inks. 
     
     
       13. The image-forming method according to claim  9 , wherein the ink-jet recording apparatus ejects ink by action of thermal energy applied to the ink. 
     
     
       14. A process for producing a printed matter, comprising forming an image with an ink-jet recording apparatus on the recording medium set forth in claim  1  to obtain a printed matter having metallic luster. 
     
     
       15. A printed matter in which an image is formed with ink dots on the recording medium set forth in claim  1 . 
     
     
       16. The recording medium according to claim  1 , wherein the water-soluble resin is a resin selected from the group consisting of polyvinyl alcohol, cation-modified polyvinyl alcohol, acetal-modified polyvinyl alcohol, hydroxyethyl cellulose and polyvinylpyrrolidone. 
     
     
       17. The recording medium according to claim  1 , wherein the ink-receiving layer further comprises a cationic compound. 
     
     
       18. The recording medium according to claim  17 , wherein the cationic compound is a material selected from the group consisting of monoalkylammonium chloride, dialkylammonium chloride, tetramethylammonium chloride, trimethylphenylammonium chloride, quaternary ammonium type cationic surfactant, amine salt type cationic surfactant and ampholytic surfactant. 
     
     
       19. The recording medium according to claim  17 , wherein the cationic compound is a material selected from the group consisting of cation-modified polyacrylamide, copolymer of acrylamide with a cationic monomer, polyallylamine, polyamine sulfone, polyvinylamine, polyethyleneimine, polyamide-epichlorohydrin resin and polyvinylpyridinium halide. 
     
     
       20. The recording medium according to claim  1 , wherein the metal film has a thickness of from 1 Å to 20 μm.